Best Investments for Your Home

Interest rates are up, the real estate boom has petered out, and so, it appears, has the remodeling frenzy.
In 2001, U.S. home owners spent $104.6 billion on remodeling projects, estimates Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies. By the end of 2005, spending had risen to $149.5 billion--an increase of 43% over four years.
"It was the stars aligning," says Kermit Baker, director of the remodeling futures program at JCHS. "Financing